Li&nbspZheng

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Full Name

Li Zheng

Background

BackgroundNZ Herald story here with the sentencing detailed hereFrom a Stuff article 5th October 2007 Two out of three Chineses students were tonight found guilty of murdering a fellow countryman whose semi-decapitated body was floating in a suitcase in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour . After around 12 hours of deliberation in the High Court in Auckland, a jury found Cui Xiangxin and Li Zheng, both 22, guilty of murdering 19-year-old Wan Biao. Wang Yuxi, also 22, was found not guilty of a similar charge but all three accused were found guilty of kidnapping Wan Biao. The jury retired at 3.20 pm yesterday after a three-week trial and returned just after 7pm tonight. The Crown told the jury Cui and Li kidnapped and murdered Mr Wan in a hotel room in Elliott St, downtown Auckland .

Wang booked the room knowing the kidnap was to happen and knowing there was a real risk of Mr Wan being murdered, the Crown said. Mr Wan's body, with his head almost severed, was then stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in the Waitemata Harbour. Cui's lawyer, Peter Winter, said events in the room where Mr Wan was killed were not what his client intended, while Li's lawyer, Peter Kaye, said there were doubts whether Li was present in the hotel room when Mr Wan was killed. Wang's lawyer, John Haigh QC, said Wang had no intention of assisting Cui and Li. In his summing up Justice John Priestley told jurors they must not be swayed by emotion or sympathy they had about Mr Wan's death or views about the lifestyle and race of the accused.

He said with three accused facing two counts each there were effectively six trials going on at once and jurors must consider each charge and each accused separately. The jury was reduced to 11 this afternoon after one member was discharged because of illness. The nature of the illness was suppressed. All three were remanded in custody for sentencing next month. As the jury forewoman read out the verdicts, all three accused stood impassively in the dock, showing no emotion, even as the verdicts were translated into their Mandarin language. The judge also took the unusual step of telling the jury although it was not his place to comment, he thought it was a brutal killing and the verdicts were "spot on". He said sitting in judgement on fellow human beings was not an easy task.

It was a complicated trial with complicated issues and he told the jury he was "profoundly impressed" with the diligent and conscientious way they had gone about the job. He excused the jurors, including the ill juror he discharged three hours before the verdicts were delivered, from serving on a jury for five years. He also said after viewing the evidence and chilling pictures, any juror who wanted counselling could approach the court staff. For Li, Mr Kaye, said it was a hard trial and Li had been prepared for a long time for what happened. He was cut off from his family in China but had been "quite philosophical" about it. It had not yet hit home that he was about to spend a life sentence in a New Zealand jail. His parents had been supportive but had found it extremely difficult.

For Wang, Mr Haigh said it was a very fair verdict and his defence had said from the start he should not have been charged with murder. "He wasn't guilty of murder. The jury saw through that. They have worked incredibly hard, that jury, and they deserve a great deal of credit. "He said they expected the kidnapping verdict. The officer in charge of the inquiry, Detective Inspector Bernie Hollewand, said the verdicts were a great relief. He said the evidence of Yin Lianda, who was granted immunity in return for his evidence, was needed because police did not know exactly what went on in the hotel room where Wan Biao died. "We needed someone to identify all the shadowy characters in the various security recordings. Without someone who knew those people closely, we were going to be challenged on identities," he said. All three were remanded in custody until November 28 for sentencing.

Alias

.

Date of Birth

Born 1985

Offences

Kidnapping and premeditated murder of Wan Biao in Auckland in April 2006

Current Location

Prison

Three Strikes Status

0

Victims

**Suppressed**

Offender Affiliations

Xiang-Xin Cui

Gang Affiliations

none known

Parole

Sentenced to a minimum 18 years 6 months in December 2007 Earliest parole date October 2024